As a proper resident of the Central Valley, it is my obligatory duty to hype up one special aspect of the 209- its agriculture. That’s right- we’re talking about our crops, farming, and appreciating the field workers who spend 12 hours a day laboring. Don’t get me wrong, Central Valley agriculture does not go unrecognized, with annual events such as Stockton’s asparagus festival and Lodi’s grape festival taking place year round (depending on the season). So what is the hot crop that’s in season right now? Cherries.
Peak cherry season in California begins around mid-May and goes until early June. So if you’re local and you have the chance to pick some off the tree, I highly recommend doing so, as they taste amazing right now. I also didn’t know this until recently, but apparently the largest producing county for California Cherries is San Joaquin County, specifically in an area around Lodi (that’s hype).
In honor of our cherry season, here are some interesting cherry-related stories from local news sources:
https://www.lodinews.com/news/article_61d88f48-0da9-11ef-a38b-ab27c15675da.html
“Less than an inch of rain fell on Lodi over the weekend, and to ensure his cherry crop wasn’t damaged, James Chinchiolo employed aerial assistance.”
So this happened earlier last month, where we were getting our last waves of rain for the Spring. For those who didn’t know, stone fruits such as cherries, plums, and peaches are highly sensitive to wet conditions. Wet weather can cause problems such as rot or fungal diseases for these crops. One day, after a heavy rain in early May (right before the peak of cherry season), a Lodi man named James Chinchiolo had thought of a clever way to dry out his cherries and preserve his crop. He got into a helicopter and hovered over his entire orchard, about 8 feet in the air and traveling about 10 miles per hour. The airflow from the propeller, paired with an Air-O-Fan sprayer filled with calcium chloride was enough to ensure that the cherries were thoroughly dried. The shit you see in the Central Valley.. Pretty cool stuff.
“A big rig hauling cherries overturned on Tuesday on a connector ramp linking Highway 180 to Highway 99 in Fresno…”
This one is pretty self explanatory. I mean big rigs tip over all the time on highways, this one just happened to be traveling with a shit ton of cherries (literally). The exact cause of the accident is still under investigation, but some have speculated that the high speed at which the rig was traveling at, paired with the weight of the cherries, was enough to tip it over, especially while going around a corner.
So you get the idea, cherries are a pretty big deal out here. Sadly there is no official cherry festival/celebration out here in the Central Valley, but I'd happily advocate for one. Have I tried some yet, this season? I’m happy to say that I have and they’re fucking delicious. I smashed one entire box of them after Jiu Jitsu this past Friday and could have easily eaten another box or two. But be warned, eating too many cherries can have a laxative effect on your body. So just make sure you’re not going anywhere important the next day, especially if there is limited access to bathrooms- because you will shit your pants.
God Bless the Central Valley,
Producer Reese
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Creativity for days with that helicopter... nice!